Stargate Millennium: Submerged
by StargateMillennium
Summary: A new spin-off series: The Millennium Expedition is now desperate for resources to survive. In order to find what they need, Wolf Pack will need to travel to a submerged city of the Nox.
1. Chapter 1

**WARNING: This is a new spin off which means new characters and new setting. If you are new then I recommend you read the first episode so you know what's happening. Otherwise, please review and enjoy.**

**A/N: Fifth episode. I think I owe my reviewers an apology. I was on a gateworld forum page discussing about fanfiction pet-peeves and someone mentioned that some people hate it when they review a story and get no response from the author (something I am guilty of). I apologize for that. Reviews are always welcome and appreciated. I usually don't respond because I don't know what to put aside from 'thank you'.  
**

******I also have put a trailer for this series on youtube.**

** watch?v=cFh4mIbxyko**

**Quick thing about the trailer: it is not just a bunch of random clips with music; I did not put it in there unless it was going to happen in one of my episodes (with a few obvious exceptions). It may be slightly different but similar enough that you can watch the trailer and point out which clip/audio came from which episode. If you see it in the trailer, it will happen in one of the episodes.**

**I have also started a forum about this on gateworld. threads/89185-Stargate-Millennium If you wish to ask me something just go to the forum page.**

**-.-**

**PROLOGUE**

It has been twenty years; it's been twenty years since the first team of humans was sent to Abydos. Thanks to the massive stone ring known as the stargate, Earth has made enormous leaps technology. They have a fleet of ships ready to defend their planet. They unlocked the secret of the lost city of Atlantis and the mysterious ninth chevron that led to Destiny. But, they had barely scratched the surface of the Alliance of Four Great Races. To this end, Earth has launched a new expedition to the fabled city Millennium, built by all four races. It's a new expedition in a new galaxy, and these are their adventures...

-.-

It is said that the universe is infinite, that one could spend their entire lifetime trying unlock its secrets and barely scratch the surface. But, this did not stop races from trying. Four races, the Alterans, the Nox, the Asgard, and the Furlings aimed to unlock every secret of the universe before their races would die off. They united to achieve their goal, sharing knowledge and technology while expanding across countless galaxies. Some point in their history, they chose to go their own separate ways. They abandoned entire cities and left them for whoever could find them. But, there are still those who remain, watching...and observing...

-.-

Untouched by civilization, the skies of alien planets were often more beautiful than anything that could be found. It was a sight to see and explore.

A massive figure streaked through the sky, swooping through the clouds joyously, weaving in and out of the puffy white masses. From a distance, it looked like a dragon was soaring through the air with an armored rider atop of it. However, on closer inspection, it becomes obvious that this dragon-like shape was actually a large open-cockpit aircraft.

Corin stared in awe at the landscape around him as he steered his craft toward the ocean below. He wore a suit that looked like it was made of countless pieces of metal as he rode his aircraft. His helmet looked like dome with a large face plate that had three veins of glowing energy at the front. He could hear the wind whooshing past his helmet. He could only imagine what it would feel like against his skin.

Massive manta ray-like creatures jumped and bounced across the ocean surface as Corin navigated through the splashing waves, whooping in amazement. Water sprayed his suit. He veered back up into the clouds. This was a rollercoaster ride and he got to choose where the coaster was going.

"Having fun there?" Steven Chen's voice suddenly crackled on the radio as Corin was back inside the white masses.

"You have no idea," Corin laughed as he tried to stand up. "These dragonflies are amazing!" He immediately sat down when his ride began to wobble.

"We're only out here training, Corin," Chen reminded, emerging out of the clouds beside Corin riding his own dragonfly. The glowing red eye ports on Chen's black HAZARD suit were the most obvious as he appeared from the clouds. "Terra and Charles already finished their training; you're the only one left on the team. We should head back to the Millennium."

Corin couldn't help but groan in disappointment.

"Ok, once we get past these birds," Corin said.

"Birds?" Chen repeated in confusion. "What birds?" As if to answer his question, a flock of flying pigeon-like lizards suddenly burst through the clouds. Chen yelled in shock and covered his face as the creatures flew past, several of them bouncing off the front of the dragonfly. He cautiously moved his arms away from his face, looking around to make sure nothing else was going to run into him.

"I HATE birds!" Chen yelled in disbelief as the flock flew past. He readjusted himself on his seat as his computer console suddenly beeped a statement in an alien language at him. Chen didn't know what the statement said but it made Corin burst out laughing.

"It said: the Nox would like to remind you that animals are people too," Corin translated with a large grin. Chen was not as amused.

"I'm gonna turn off the onboard AI when I get back," he muttered.

The two of them continued flying through the clouds, headed for the stargate. It wasn't long until the coast came into view, massive pine trees reaching for the skies higher than most trees on Earth.

"Switching to vehicle mode," Corin announced as he flew toward the ground. As he descended, the wings on the dragonfly retracted into its body, turning the spacecraft into a speeder as it now streaked across the ground with Chen preparing to do the same. He knew they would have to stop and get off to dial the DHD since the dragonflies didn't come with their own but, until then, they could cruise across the landscape with nothing but a trail of dust being kicked up behind them.

-.-

The city of Millennium, once the capital for the Alliance of Four Great races, now was inhabited by the Tau'ri of Earth in their quest to unlock the secrets of the universe. People were going about their daily business. Doctors and nurses paced about the hospitals and the infirmary, ready to receive patients. Scientists and engineers had tables piled with Alliance technology to study and experiment. The halls, no matter what time it is, always had someone walking down them. The tram stations under the city always had someone using them. Like any city on Earth, there was always someone up and about.

The control room, heart of the city, always had people working in it.

"Incoming wormhole!" Donavan announced as the silver stargate activated. "Sealing the barrier." The line at the base of the stargate lit up and shot a beam of light across the shimmering event horizon, forming a large metal plate over the giant puddle.

Hearing the gate activate, General William Mercer exited his office. He wasn't wearing his blue dress uniform that he usually wears. Instead, he sported black khaki pants with a white dress shirt and tie with a black vest atop of it.

"What have you got?" he asked, his massive black mustache twitching as he talked.

"Getting Corin Nevec's IDC," Donavan explained.

"Raise the barrier then," Mercer ordered as he went to head down the gate room. Donavan punched in the commands and the line activated again, removing the barrier from the gate.

As Mercer made his way to the bottom of the stairs, Corin and Chen sped out of the gate on their dragonflies.

"Professor, Doctor," Mercer greeted warmly with a smile. "I assume the training went well."

"Incredibly well," Chen said as his helmet began to retract, folding back into the neck of the suit. "The dragonflies may not be military spacecraft but they are going to be tremendously helpful with station repair and off-world exploration." Corin simply laughed in agreement.

"With these things, we can travel and explore further than we ever could on foot," he said as his helmet retracted. "We can now even explore planets where the stargate's in a dangerous spot: the two space gates we found yesterday, the one on the volcano planet…"

"Good," Mercer said with a nod. "I think I have just the mission for you. Park the dragonflies and meet me in the conference room."

"Got it," Corin acknowledged as Chen typed a command into the dragonfly. Mercer took a few steps back as the gate room floor seemed to distort. Corin, Chen, and their dragonflies seemed to sink through the floor and out of sight into the chamber below.

-.-

Parking the vehicles was easy enough. Once they were done, Chen and Corin both waited in the conference room, not even bothering to take their suits off. The ark at the back of the room activated and opened, letting Major Terra Nova and Lieutenant Charles Martin come in with their black on-duty uniforms.

"Mates," Martin greeted happily in his regular Australian accent. "Nice suit," he said jokingly when he noticed Corin and Chen were both wearing the HAZARD suits. Chen just grumbled at that statement, knowing it was not sincere.

"Wolf Pack," Mercer greeted, exiting his office. Seeing the General, Nova and Martin both took their seats. "Before we begin the briefing, I'd like to ask Doctor Chen his assessment of the dragonflies we found in the Millennium garage."

Chen looked up in surprise, not expecting Mercer to open the meeting with him.

"Well, we got the doors to the room under the gate room open last week," he explained. "We don't know what the Alliance called them but we're calling them dragonflies. These aren't military craft, the closest thing they have to a weapon is their thermal lance made for drilling; they're made repair and exploration. We can use them to cover an even greater distance around the gate than on foot. It can alternate between spacecraft and vehicle depending on the situation, and its vehicle mode doesn't consume as much energy."

"Will it work in space or underwater?" Mercer asked.

"We'd have to wear suits or something and use flight mode but yeah."

"Excellent," Mercer said, taking out a folder of papers and passing it around the U-shaped table. "As you all know, after our recent incident, our galaxy map has suffered extensive damage." The team passed down the folder, taking a look at the pictures inside. "We still have the gate addresses in this galaxy but we no longer have the accompanying descriptions. We have to refill the map ourselves."

"General," Nova suddenly spoke up as she flipped through several photos. "What are these?" She flipped the picture around to show Mercer. The image was dark but obvious that it was taken underwater with countless specs of sand and barnacles floating by and a massive ocean floor at the bottom. But it was what was on the ocean floor that had caught Nova's attention; dotting the bottom were dozens of nearly identical towers of coral

"Ah yes," Mercer said pleasantly. "We sent a probe to TK5-986. Our MALP short circuited so we used one of the station's kinos to explore." Martin flipped through a few more pictures with what looked like close ups of the coral towers. "As you know, all four races of the Alliance colonized this galaxy; all of them built cities on planets of their choosing. Upon dialing this planet, we detected energy signatures in the vicinity of those coral towers."

"Energy signatures?" Corin repeated, not seeing how stacks of deep-sea coral could possibly emit that.

"Indeed," Mercer said with a nod. "We've analyzed cross referenced the energy signature with our database; it's Nox."

Hearing this, the whole team looked up.

"There's a Nox city in that bloody ocean?" Martin coughed in disbelief. Martin remembered the SG mission reports about the Nox and the ocean was the last place he thought he'd find them. "What are they doing at the bottom of the ocean?"

"The Nox highly values nature," Corin explained. "Different Nox cultures will try to connect with different aspects of nature. I read the mission report about the Nox from your galaxy. Their culture revolved around the forest. The one that built the city must've have a culture that revolves around oceanic nature."

Chen listened to the talk but did not react with as much surprise or eagerness.

"Did the kino actually see a Nox city anywhere?" he asked. "Was it floating in the sky or anything?"

"No," Mercer said flatly. "We believe that it was left cloaked."

"The Nox don't want their advanced technology interfering with nature," Corin immediately cut in. "They'll do whatever they can to avoid affecting nature, putting their cities in the middle of the ocean instead of on the floor or surface, set their cities in the air-"

"Put their cities in space?" Martin asked, thinking of the very large city that they occupied. Corin simply nodded.

"Guess we know why the Alliance chose to build something the size of Beijing in the middle of nowhere," Chen said gruffly.

"They always cloak their cities so that animals passing by won't react to it," Corin added. "If they want to interact with nature they have to limit the technology they use, built huts or mounds or…in this case, coral houses. Coral is the one thing that would survive for thousands of years exposed to water."

"So we know there's a Nox city in the vicinity," Nova concluded. "But, if the Nox built the city with the intention of not having anything find it, chances are we won't find it either."

"You won't," Mercer said, reaching for a box under the table. "Not without this." He slid out a small device and held it in the palm of his hand. "You don't give your engineers enough credit, Doctor Chen. While you were observing Professor Nevec's training, they built this." Mercer slid the device to Nova who took a moment to examine it. "They say, once in close proximity to the city, it will deactivate the cloak."

"I assume they also failed to specify their definition of 'close proximity'," Chen said bluntly as Nova slid him the device.

"Regardless," Mercer said. "We use this opportunity to see if we can find the city. We are lacking much needed resources and Nox technology might give us what we need. The Ror'char uses Alliance technology and if we even hope to fight them we must do the same."

"With all due respect, General," Martin said. "All our teams are running and hiding from them; not fighting them."

"Then it is fortunate that the city we found is Nox. You have your mission, Major Nova. I want Wolf Pack geared up and ready to deploy."

STARGATE

MILLENNIUM

The garage under the gate room was nothing spectacular. The dark blue floor seemed to glow to light up the whole garage, revealing dozens of dragonflies parked by power stations, ready for use. Wolf Pack was geared up. Chen and Corin were already in their suits so they just need to extend their helmets back over their head. Nova and Martin wore similar dark grey suits, distinguishable only by their helmets. Nova's helmet was shaped like a dome and had a single purple vein of energy running across it like a visor. Martin's helmet was wedge-shaped and had three veins instead of just one.

Corin and Chen were loading up their dragonflies with empty crates and containers.

"I still think we should send divers for this mission," Martin remarked as he rolled his dragonfly out to the center of the garage. "We brought marines. Send them."

"Millennium exploration teams are comprised of personnel from all branches of the military and civilian crew," Corin said as he locked down the last of the cases. "We're supposed to do the off-world exploring no matter what situation."

"He means that since the Air Force is in charge of the stargate program, they have to do most of the exploring no matter what the condition," Chen translated.

Nova clicked open a case.

"Here," she called out to Martin. "This'll cheer you up." She reached in and tossed over the Ror'char ion rifle. "Millennium Exploration teams are picking these up from their encounters with the Ror'char. General Mercer wants every team to carry at least one of them."

Martin looked at the alien gun with a smile.

"They're also the only gun, short of a grenade launcher, that's effective against Ror'char armor," Chen added.

"Speaking of guns, what are we going to bring?" Corin asked as he rolled his own dragonfly out. "The ion rifles work underwater P90's aren't exactly made to shoot down there."

"Give us credit, Corin," Chen said as he unlocked another case and took out several black rifles.

"Russian ASD amphibious assault rifles," Nova explained as the rifles were passed around. "Fires trinium darts instead of regular rounds. It'll work both in and out of water." Nova and Chen both rolled out their dragonflies to the center. "Gentlemen, are we ready?"

"Quick question," Martin remarked, looking at the ceiling, which was the floor of the gate room above them. "How're we gonna get to the gate room?" Martin looked at Chen for an answer, since he was the tech expert. Chen didn't answer; he just smiled and punched something into the dragonfly controls.

There was a loud click as a large glowing circle formed beneath their feet. The ceiling began to ripple and distort as the glowing disk beneath them began to rise, lifting them all up into the ceiling.

They passed right through the ceiling and emerged in the gate room on the other side. The stargate was already active and ready for them.

"Major Nova, is your team ready?" Mercer asked from the control room. The team mounted their dragonflies.

"Ready!" Nova called out with a thumbs up.

"Wolf Pack, you have a go!"

-.-

The active stargate on the alien world glowed bright enough for all the fish to see underwater. The large silver ring was stationed on top of a large football-shaped platform that floated in the middle of the ocean. The DHD was right in front of it, between sets of large arches that hung over the platform. Stabilizers on the gate glowed with power as they prevented the platform from just sinking to the bottom.

Nova came through first, a trail of bubbles shooting out the back of her dragonfly as she extended the wings and moved out of the way as he team followed through and did the same, the lights on the arches coming to life as it detected the travelers. Fish darted away as they came through.

It was certainly a new experience. They were so used to being able to move freely on land. Now, their every move met resistance from the water around them. Their every movement was slowed as if the water was grabbing a hold of them.

Chen groaned when he saw the seemingly endless amounts of water around him.

"Something wrong?" Martin asked when he heard Chen's agitation.

"I hate water," Chen said, trying to shrug off the thought of how deep they were.

"Just think of it as swimming in a pool, mate."

"You never had nightmares of drowning when you were a kid," Chen snapped, gripping the dragonfly tighter. "So, short of just swimming around like a bunch of idiots, how do we intend on finding the Nox city?" Chen asked. They looked around but could see nothing but darkness in all directions.

"Turn on the night vision," Nova ordered. There were four gentle clicks as the team activated the suit's night vision and everything around them became clear. The ocean still created a massive black void in all directions but they could now see the ocean floor and the masses of fish floated by.

"I say we head for the village first," Corin suggested. "The city's usually in visual range."

"Hold on a moment," Chen said as he maneuvered his ride closer to the stargate. He reached into his pack and took out a small machine.

"What you doing?" Martin asked as Chen put the machine right at the base of the gate.

"The first the SGC ran into the Nox, their gate vanished," Chen explained as he sealed his pouch. "Not to mention, the last thing we need it to get lost in the middle of the ocean; there aren't exactly landmarks."

"Just use the ocean floor," Martin suggested with a shrug. Chen rolled his eyes inside his helmet.

"Yes, of course," he said as the team drove into the darkness. "Who volunteers to remember which rock the stargate is floating above?"

-.-

Jellyfish floated past the towers of coral like balloons, a mass of stringy tentacles dangling under them. A plethora of creatures swam around and crawled across the towers like any other coral reef.

In the water, the dragonflies in flight mode looked like large manta rays with riders.

"This must be the village," Nova said when it came into view.

"How do those blokes live down here anyways?" Martin asked. "I mean, I know they have powers but they can't do this; can they?"

"We are talking about people that can make stuff appear and disappear with their mind," Chen pointed out as he approached the coral structures, watching as small minnows swam away. Leafy tendrils attached to the ocean floor waved with the current, eyes of small creatures living inside them peeking out.

"If they do use their powers to live underwater, they definitely can't hold it long," Corin said, parking his dragonfly and getting off, the dirt beneath him kicking up into a small cloud as he approached the ocean floor. "The biologists on Millennium will probably want coral samples."

Corin removed a container from the storage compartment at the back of his dragonfly and slowly swam over to a tower.

Martin was busier observing the tower.

"Found the door," he called out as he dismounted from his dragonfly and swam toward a hole in the side of the coral formation.

"Crikey!" he suddenly yelled in surprise, backpedalling out, his rifle aimed at the door. From inside the tower emerged what looked like a large spiny puffer fish with a single eye at its front. It looked at the startled Lieutenant Martin for a moment.

Nova maneuvered her dragonfly over when she heard Martin's yell and aimed at the large fish, which was the size of a dog.

"Friendly?" she asked cautiously.

The fish suddenly puffed up, its spines extending in all directions as it opened its gaping mouth, revealing rows of impossibly long teeth.

"Take that as a no," Martin said, trying to swim away. The fished rushed forward but barely got a few feet before Nova opened fire. Trails of bubbles erupted from her weapon as metal prongs shot out from the barrel, embedding themselves deep into the cyclopean fish.

As she stopped firing, mists of red leaked out of the creature and began floating toward the surface. Some of the red clouds drifted away into the darkness of the ocean.

"You ok?" Nova asked, lowering her weapon. Martin just turned around and gave a thumbs up.

"Those things actually work well underwater," Martin remarked, looking at the gun. He proceeded to swim through the opening and into the coral house. Particles from the coral floated around freely as Martin examined the scene. Everything that would've been part of the household thousands of years ago, tables, chairs, beds, had been eroded away. Only the walls of the house remained. He could only imagine what this would have looked like when the Nox were actually living here. He remembered reading SG-1 mission report about the Nox they encountered in the forest and tried to imagine what this village would've looked like thousands of years ago. The ceiling had a single hole in it that led to another room in the tower. Martin guessed that it would have a whole in its ceiling too that would also lead to another room.

"I'm not sure how appreciative the Nox would be of us shooting guns in their city," Corin pointed out with a laugh. He locked the container, now full of coral samples, onto his dragonfly as he went to get another empty one.

"We already shot guns in their city," Chen said, thinking about the firefight they had on Millennium, built by all four races of the Alliance including the Nox.

"The fish didn't disappear when I shot at it," Nova pointed out, scanning the area for more.

"That probably means the city is abandoned," Corin concluded as he loaded another full container onto his craft.

"Gee, and the empty village didn't give that away?" Chen asked sarcastically.

"Chen, you find anything?" Nova asked as she maneuvered her dragonfly through the village of coral structures.

"I'm looking for a needle in a haystack, Terra," Chen said, holding a scanner in one hand and the de-cloaking device in the other. "If the Nox are good at one thing, it's hiding stuff."

"Your planet encountered the Nox only once because they let themselves be seen," Corin said as he loaded jars of coral and dirt onto his dragonfly and remounted it. "They could've been on every planet your world visited and no one would know they were there. Since they don't want to fight, they have to stay hidden from everything."

"In other words, they could be watching everything we do in this galaxy and we'd never know," Chen concluded.

"That's bloody creepy," Martin remarked, imagining cities of fairy people just watching them, like a creeper watching a passerby from his window with telescope.

"Well, maybe we can get a chance to talk to them or something," Chen pointed out as something finally registered on the scanner.

"Got something?" Nova asked when she saw Chen pause. He simply pressed the button on the de-cloaking device and looked up in surprise.

The darkness of the ocean in front of him parted like black curtains being drawn open, revealing the massive emerald green city behind it. Schools of fish swam away in surprise, reacting to the sudden appearance of something so large.

"I think so," Chen answered in awe. Martin and Corin emerged from behind several of the coral buildings and stared at the city.

"Looks like we found it," Martin said, climbing back onto his dragonfly. He stared in amazement, still stunned that they found an ancient Nox city that was once lost to time, hidden from the world since it was abandoned.

"Think we've looked at the village long enough," Nova said. "Wolf Pack, let's check out the city."

The team had just begun to head toward the city when Martin stopped.

"Hold on a moment, mates" he called out, stopping his dragonfly and scanning the ocean around him. Everyone stopped and looked at him curiously. "Do you hear that?"

Without the hum of the engines, the ocean fell silent. They could hear the thrashing of the one-eyed puffer fish swimming away, but in the background they heard a soft moan like a ghost or supernatural creature calling out from the darkness.

"What is that, whales?" Nova asked, trying to figure out whether or not the source was dangerous.

"Those are very small whales," Chen remarked.

"Is it just me, or is it getting louder?" Corin commented. The team scanned the ocean around them for the source of the noise but could find nothing. Then, just as sudden as it had started, it stopped. The ocean fell silent once again.

"Whatever it was, it seems to be gone now," Nova said, easing up.

Suddenly, the whole ocean floor seemed the shake, sending the whole team stumbling off balance, as a massive black figure burst through several of the coral towers nearby. The puffer fish swam away in fear as the massive creature shot after it in pursuit, moving through the water with ease. It grabbed the fish with its claw and dragged its prey into a pair of smaller pincers protruding from its neck, its blood red eyes watching as its jaws ripped the fish apart.

"Are we in danger?" Corin asked worriedly. He knew a lot of animals in the galaxy of Caldwell 70 but he didn't know every one of them and it was clearly carnivorous. It looked like a massive black lobster, the size of a puddle jumper if not bigger.

"Nah," Martin said, shaking his head; it was only eating the fish after all.

As the remnants of its meal drifted away into the ocean like liter, the lobster swam off before turning completely around and heading for the team.

"Yeah," Martin said fearfully, changing his answer when it became obvious the thing was headed right for them.

"Alright Wolf Pack," Nova said, mounting her dragonfly. "To the city, double time!"

The team jumped on their vehicles and took off, a trail of bubbles erupting out the back as the massive creature followed, roaring demonically as it chased its prey. At these speeds, the water didn't just feel like a gentle force against their body but a mass of hands trying to shove them off. They gripped the handles of their crafts as tight as they could, afraid that the moment they loosened their grip they would fly off the back, pressing themselves against their dragonflies in a desperate attempt to make themselves more hydrodynamic.

The creature was rapidly catching up. It was made for swimming, built to chase its prey through the depths of the ocean, bred to hunt in this environment, designed to kill any and all organisms it chose.

"Chen we need directions!" Nova yelled as they flew toward the city, the thick platform of skyscrapers getting larger with every second.

"They'd need some sort of air lock!" Chen yelled. There was a crash as the creature tried to grab one of the dragonflies right out from under them.

"Doesn't narrow it down, mate!" Martin snapped as he narrowly avoided the lobster's snapping jaws. Martin glanced behind him and felt chills down his spine. The creature opened its jaws again, revealing a mouth full of not teeth but hundreds of hand-like appendages. Martin thought about the fish that had been eaten and he imagined himself falling into those jaws, being ripped apart by the countless hands inside the creature's mouth.

Chen's mind was racing. He had milliseconds to figure out where to go. He had to assume that all Nox cities were built in similar fashions; that meant the entrance would be the same on all of them. It had to be a place on the city where Nox could go from a planet's surface and into the air as easily as they could from the ocean into it.

Corin yelled in shock and swerved sideways as the claws clamped down where he was a few moments ago.

"Head under the city!" Chen yelled. There was no question. The team angled their vehicles downward and flew under the massive city with the massive lobster in pursuit. The underside was not flat but dotted with towers and buildings. It would've been a beautiful sight seeing skyscrapers and towers dangling upside down but they didn't have time to admire the view.

"Up there!" Chen yelled, pointing at what looked like a large man hole in underside of the city, nearly getting pushed off by the force of the water on his body when he pointed.

The creature eyed its prey as they veered upward toward a crack in the bottom of the city. It roared furiously as it swam even faster in a desperate attempt to catch the team. The bubbles being blown in its face from the vehicles didn't matter. It just wanted its meal and it had to catch them before they made it into the hole.

There was a deafening crash as the creature slammed into the bottom of the city. Its head and neck were just small enough to fit into the gap but the rest of its body was too large. It used the pair of pincers attached to its neck to make one last desperate grab at the team as they vanished into the darkness.

-.-

The emerald green walls of the inside of the city were masked by the darkness. Then, a single bright flash lit up the entire hall as Wolf Pack emerged from the light beam of light, carefully maneuvering their dragonflies into the hallway. They were sopping wet and dripping but alive.

"We're inside," Nova said as the beam of light vanished, plunging the team back into darkness.

There was a gentle click as the lights began to come on, peeling away the darkness of the hall.

"Good thing the Alliance HAZARD suits negate water pressure or we'd be dead," Chen remarked as they dismounted their vehicles. Martin gave him an agitated look.

"Next can you tell us that before activating the transporter, mate?!" he interjected. He didn't like the idea he could've died if it wasn't for a coincidental aspect of the suit he wore. He mumbled in annoyance as they retracted the helmets around their heads back into the collars of their suits.

"Uhh, guys," Corin said, taking a step forward. The lights continued to peel back the wall of darkness in front of them, revealing a large glass chamber in front of them.

Chen finally stepped into the room.

"I have to admit," he said. "It is a beautiful sight." The team knew what Chen was talking about. They gaped at the view of the city, which looked like it was upside down from their point of view. Countless sea creatures swam by. Schools of fish floated under the upside down towers like living clouds. Strange bird-like creatures with a mass of tentacles for tails glided by. Large disk-shaped creatures that looked like they were made of only skin floated around like balloons.

"Ok, moment's over," Nova said. "Gentlemen, back to work."

-.-

Chen found himself in an office that overlooked the glass chamber, trying to access the city's computers. Corin was hanging over his shoulder, reading the texts that Chen brought up as he scrolled down them.

"Terra, Charles, how's the exploration?" Corin asked over the radio.

"Good so far," Nova said as she and Martin continued wandering the empty halls. Even with the lights of the city coming on, it was still eerily dark. "It's kind of reminiscent of Atlantis…just with less lights."

"Yeah, I'm trying to get those on," Chen said as he continued hammering at the keyboard. "The city's power grid is in some sort of standby mode. I'm trying to bring it out but this is the first time I've ever seen Nox computer language."

"You're the first person who's ever seen a Nox computer," Martin pointed out.

"I don't even know if computer describes this," Corin said. "It's more plant than machine."

Just as Corin said this, Steven Chen froze and looked up. Corin looked up too, trying to find out what Steven was looking at.

"What is it?" Corin asked. He didn't see anything but the dimly lit halls and the large chamber they had parked their dragonflies in.

"Nothing," Chen finally said after a moment, slowly getting back to work. Corin looked up again to make sure there was nothing there. "You sure this city's abandoned?"

Corin looked at Chen in surprise.

"Well, no one stopped us from killing that fish earlier," Corin pointed out, knowing the Nox would do something to make sure there was no killing.

"So, no Nox hiding anywhere?" Chen asked. Corin looked at him questioningly. "I thought I heard something," Chen finally explained.

"What, you think that there are Nox still here invisible watching us?" Corin asked. Chen looked up at him as if to say 'yes'.

At that moment, there was a dull thud in the hallway like a heavy footstep. Corin and Chen both looked up, weapons aimed through the window.

"Ok, I heard that," Corin said, a little unnerved. "Hello," he called out, his voice echoing through the chamber. "We don't mean to disturb you. We are…young. We were hoping you could teach us to be wise."

He paused for a moment, hoping to hear a response. The only response he got was a single long screech, like nails scratching across a chalk board or something metal being dragged across the floor.

Corin reacted immediately, shutting the door and propping a chair against it.

"SG1-1's mission report never mentioned them being creepy," Chen exclaimed, his hand on his gun.

"Could be a Nox joke," Corin suggested, trying to think of some reassurance.

"Yes, because the Nox are well renowned for their sense of humor," Chen scoffed sarcastically.

Before they could continue discussing what was happening, Martin's voice suddenly came through the radio.

"Shouldn't we be worried about imminent power failure?" he asked. "Like, Atlantis nearly lost its shields and Millennium's life support was nearly dead."

Chen didn't answer immediately. He quickly typed something into the computer.

"No," he said. "According to this, the station's power is perfectly fine."

"How's that possible?" Nova asked. No one was surprised to learn Atlantis or Millennium was nearly out of power after tens of thousands of years and even felt slightly stupid for not considering it. Hearing that this city maintained its power this long without a problem seemed impossible.

"For one, the city isn't using a shield like Atlantis. The city is water tight."

"Still, what about life support?" Martin asked. Chen opened his mouth to answer but he honestly had no clue.

"You're close to one of the power plants," Chen said. "About fifty of them power this city. Hang a left."

Nova shone her flashlight down the hall on her left, exchanging looks with Martin. They had just begun proceeding down it when Martin froze.

"Martin?" Nova asked. Martin glanced behind him suspiciously before continuing.

"Nothing," he said before proceeding.

"Open the door ahead of you," Chen said.

Nova and Martin approached the large grey door. She gave Martin a nod and he waved his hand in front of the glowing orb at the side of the door. It opened with a hiss, revealing the fairly small room on the other side. At the center of the room was a small pedestal with a red cube atop of it.

"The Nox power source should be at the center. Just pick it up."

Martin hesitantly waked up to the cube. He tapped it with his hands several times, making sure he wasn't going to get zapped or burned if he touched it.

"What is it?" Martin asked as he plucked the cube out of the plug it was in.

"Well, I just found the data on Nox power sources."

"And?"

"Paragai, it's a fungus," Chen answered. Martin immediately tossed it back on the pedestal, holding his hands away from it in disgust.

"It's their power source," Corin clarified. "The fungus, under certain conditions, undergoes a chemical reaction that releases massive quantities of energy."

"Not as much as a ZPM or naquadah generator," Chen added. "But, it has a much longer life span."

Martin reluctantly picked the cube back up.

"So we can just find this fungus and get a power source?" Nova asked.

"Not exactly. The fungus has to reach a certain age in order to produce the energy levels the Nox use.

"They always did get all their stuff from nature," Martin grumbled as he took off his backpack and put the cube in it.

"Chen, download as much information from the computers as you can," Nova said. "It's time we head back."

"What?" Chen interjected when he heard.

"Why?" Corin asked.

"We're not leaving," Nova clarified. "But, we are scheduled for a check in and we might as well send back everything we've collected so far."

Chen bobbed his head, thinking about what Nova said. As long as he got to keep working at the computer he was happy.

"Downloading data," Chen announced, taking a flash drive out of his pack.

-.-

Bubbles trailed behind the dragonflies as the team made their way back to the stargate. The glow of their now extended helmets lit up a few feet of ocean in front of them.

"If we dial the gate, don't we risk having water flood the gate room?" Martin asked as he flew by several schools of fish. Corin felt like a kid in the classroom waiting to get called on by the teacher when he heard this.

"The gate possess the ability to differentiate between what is attempting to actually go through the event horizon and what is merely pressing on the surface!" Corin quickly babbled. Everyone looked at Corin in surprise, not expecting him to be the one answering the question. "I read it in the SG mission report where SG-1 gated to a water planet."

"Corin's right," Chen said. "The stargate can determine the difference between passive and active contact. Water won't get through the -"

"HEADS UP!"

Everyone practically jumped when they heard Martin shout that, not expecting him to yell. They looked around and immediately saw what had him so panicked. They veered out of the way as the massive lobster-like creature bolted past them and toward the depths of the ocean. It was the exact same one that had chased them earlier.

"The bugger's back!" Martin yelled as the large figure streaked past.

"Get that gate open!" Nova ordered as the creature, realizing it just missed its prey, whipped around and headed back up at them, the darkness of the water parting for its glowing red eyes.

They all scattered in different directions. None of them liked leaving the others to deal with the creature on their own but clumping up only made them easier to attack.

Chen flew his dragonfly by the DHD and practically jumped off to reach the pedestal. He began to slowly press the buttons, the pressure of the water hindering his movement.

"Steven, look out!" Corin yelled. Chen looked behind him. The creature was coming back around like an eagle hunting a mouse in the field. Chen grabbed the DHD and pulled himself under the console as the creature flew over with a roar.

Chen grabbed his gun and fired, the metal prongs leaving nothing but bubbles as they streaked through the water and bounced harmlessly off the creature's hard shell. Instead of flying past the platform the stargate rested on, it slowed down. It turned to face Chen, floating in the water so that it would be easier to grab its prey.

Suddenly, a bolt of blue energy streaked through the water, bubbles covering the surface of the bolt as its heat instantly evaporated the water touching it. The streak of energy hit the creature in the shoulder, exploding and sending a shockwave through the water that nearly threw Chen off the platform.

With a roar of utmost fury, the beast darted though the water at Martin. The Tau'ri ASD rifles didn't do much to the creature the Ror'char ion rifles obviously succeeded at pissing it off.

Martin gripped his dragonfly and flew off with the lobster right behind him. Its massive claws clamped the water as Martin made a U-turn and headed back toward the platform.

Chen tried to get back to dialing the gate; he had only managed to punch two symbols into the DHD. He still had five more to go and the water pressure made it hard to move. He looked up as Martin suddenly streaked through the inactive stargate, a trail of bubbles forming behind him. The creature roared as it tried to follow. Its head and neck succeeded in fitting through the stargate but its shoulders were just slightly too big, lodging itself inside the ring.

Chen was nearly thrown off the platform as it jolted underneath his feet. He looked up and saw the creature stuck inside the ring, its body nearly completely filling up the area inside the gate.

"Dial the gate now, Chen!" Martin called as he lowered his dragonfly. "The big kawoosh should kill that thing and we can get out of here!"

"Are you that stupid?!" Chen snapped.

"What? It's stuck!" Martin said defensively.

"Yeah, and it's also an obstruction. I can't dial the gate while it's still in there!"

The creature continued thrashing, still stuck inside the ring. Then it froze. It looked up toward the surface as if it suddenly sensed something. It scanned the water around it. Then, it began thrashing again but even harder and in panic.

"I didn't know!" Martin snapped. "I don't do this tech stuff! How am I supposed to know?! It doesn't matter. Kill it, dislodge it, then we get out of here."

"Martin, Chen, get out of there!" Nova yelled. The two of them only looked at her in confusion. Whatever it was that had the Major worried, it was behind the stargate. They turned around and stared into the darkness of the ocean. It took them a moment but they suddenly realized the darkness was not from the empty water but because they were staring down the maw of a cavernous mouth. They couldn't see the body of the fish itself. All they saw were the walls of its throat and the blackness in it like a massive tunnel to hell.

"Bugger," Martin whimpered. A massive fish, perhaps a whale, was headed for them, its mouth open to eat the creature stuck in the gate.

Martin jumped on his dragonfly and sped off. Chen didn't even bother getting on his. He just grabbed a handle and pressed the accelerator, hanging on as he flew off the platform on out of the way.

The lobster began forcing itself to swim backwards. There was a loud creak as it finally freed itself from the ring. It desperately began to swim away as the massive fish continued moving forward, its jaws open to receive its meal. The lobster managed to swim out of the way as the platform that held the stargate and DHD vanished into the darkness of the fish's mouth. But, the lobster was not going to sit idly by and let itself become food. It whipped around and charged at the giant fish, tearing through its scales and into its flesh with its claws. The two creatures continued fighting as their thrashing figures disappeared into the depths of the ocean.

"The stargate!" Chen yelled, looking up where it used to be.

"It's gone," Nova breathed.


	2. Chapter 2

The light of the Nox transporter lit up again as Wolf Pack exited the beam. Water dripped from their suits and dragonflies as they stepped out into the hall, leaving puddles of water as they stepped forth. Their helmets retracted, revealing their stunned and defeated faces. They walked into the large glass chamber and Martin plopped on the floor, the water from his suit splashing on the ground around him.

"It just ate the stargate," Martin said blankly, still going over what happened in his head. They had tried to go through the stargate back to Millennium when a massive fish came and completely swallowed it whole. "You know what this bloody means?!"

"It means we're screwed!" Chen snapped. "We know; we don't need reminding of that." He knew without the stargate there was no way of getting back to Millennium. They were stranded on that alien planet and he was trying his best not to think about that.

"Gentlemen!" Nova interrupted. "You two aren't helping." Martin put his hand to his head in disbelief while Chen sighed in frustration.

"The fish…whale…whatever….ate the stargate," she said. "That does not mean we're stuck here." Nova understood Chen and Martin's frustration. She understood how tough it can be to survive on your own in the wild without any hope of reaching civilization. She's read how traumatized people become after surviving such an ordeal. If they didn't find a way to get back to the Millennium, they may be going through something like that.

"What do you want do?" Chen asked. "Cut the gate out of it?"

"That is exactly what I want to do," Nova said firmly. "We find that thing and we cut the gate and DHD out of its stomach."

"Kinda gruesome," Corin commented. He knew hunters often had to gut animals but he still cringed at the thought.

"That's assuming it hasn't been digested or damaged," Chen pointed out. He knew stargates were tough. Still, he didn't know if they can survive being digested. "We don't know how that thing's digestive track works. It could be irreparably damaged by now!"

"Not to mention, we have to find a way to kill it," Martin added. He could barely imagine what a fight against that thing would look like. Corin silently agreed with Martin that a fight against the massive fish that ate the stargate might end badly, especially with how big it was.

"We might not have to," Corin said. Everyone looked at Corin curiously. They all wanted a way off the planet without having to fight the massive fish. "Nox cities are supposed to have stargates on them," he explained.

"You're telling us this NOW?!" Chen interjected.

"I didn't say anything because I thought I was wrong," Corin clarified in agitation. "The stargate's supposed to be in here," he said, gesturing toward the glass dome. "All books on the Nox say that they have a stargate in a glass dome at the bottom of their cities so they could travel between cities on other planets without anyone seeing them; they'd use their powers and technology so that only Nox could access these specific gates. The gate that is left outside the city is the stargate everyone else uses."

"News flash, mate," Martin said. "We don't have Nox powers."

"No, but we have the Nox's actual control room," Corin pointed out. "If we can find the stargate, we can gate home without ever having to fight thing!"

"If there isn't one and that fish gets away, we lose our only hope of getting back," Martin said.

"And if there is one and one of you gets killed, then it would've been for nothing," Corin argued.

"They're both risky," Nova said after a moment. "But they're not mutually exclusive. You and Chen aren't military and I didn't plan on having you help us kill this thing. You two stay here and see if there is a gate in the city."

"Are you two seriously thinking of fighting that thing?!" Chen exclaimed. "It's suicide!"

"You and Corin are staying here to see if there's a stargate in the city," Nova said firmly. "This isn't a democracy." Chen simply growled in anger at Nova's tone.

"Here," Chen said, giving her his rifle. "You can use the extra firepower. Good luck, Terra." Nova looked at the second gun and gave him a nod in appreciation.

"Roll out, Martin," Nova said as she and Lieutenant Martin headed for their dragonflies.

"How're we gonna find the bloody thing?" Martin has to ask.

"The only way we can: by looking."

-.-

Nova and Martin flew away from the Nox city in a streak of bubbles on their dragonflies, back in flight mode with their massive wings extended, while Corin and Chen continued working. They watched through the glass dome as Nova and Martin grew smaller before vanishing in the distance.

"How do we intend finding out if there's a stargate in the city?" Chen asked as he went over to a Nox computer.

"Gate-ports are like star ports," Corin explained as he went to an adjacent computer. "The Nox will have kept track of every inbound and outbound traveler." There was a gentle hum as the monitors turned on.

"There's no way I can translate that for you," Chen said. "I'm reading straight computer language."

"Don't worry," Corin said absentmindedly and he continued working. "I taught the Nox language as an elective before." Chen looked at Nevec in surprise.

"Show off," he muttered as he went to work. "I'm going to check the power systems. Stargates eat a lot of power so it should show."

Chen was fixated on the computer as he continued typing. As he moved his head left and right, reading the lines of text, he realized that there was something standing in front of him on the other side of the computer. He didn't think much of it and continued working; it was probably just Corin. Then, he realized that Corin was working beside him. If Corin was working beside him, who was that in front of him?

Chen looked up from his computer but the figure he saw had vanished. He scanned the empty room in front of him.

"Keep your eyes open," he said suspiciously. "I don't think we're alone here."

Corin didn't try disputing Chen this time. He could feel it too. He didn't want to look up from his work because he was afraid that someone would just be standing there in front of him. He could feel it too. They were being watched.

-.-

The sun must've been setting on the surface and what little light made it that far down into the water vanished. The HAZARD suit's night vision was the only reason any distance in front of them. Their helmets were back on and they were combing the bottom of the ocean for the creature.

"Nothing so far," Martin said as he scanned the ocean floor. "You know it's unlikely that we run into that thing."

"We have to try," Nova said. "If Corin and Chen can't find a stargate then killing that 'thing' is our only way off this planet. We need to find it and get the stargate out of its stomach."

"Hopefully it doesn't find us first," Martin remarked, looking behind him worriedly. The ocean was eerily vacant. Even the cyclopean puffer fish from earlier had vanished.

"I didn't get a good look at it," Martin added. "I only saw the inside of its mouth."

"I got a good look at it," Nova said reassuringly. "I'll recognize it when we see it."

-,-

Corin was getting more and more worried with each passing second. He reread the lines in front of him over and over again, hoping that he missed something.

"Find something?" Chen asked when he saw Corin's troubled expression.

"I don't know," Corin said. "According to the gate logs the stargate should be right here!" he said, gesturing toward the clearly empty room in front of him. The only thing in the chamber were their two parked dragonflies.

"These power readings are weird too," Chen said. "For an abandoned city, it's chewing up a lot of energy…way too much."

"Hey Steve, here's another weird thing," Corin added.

"What, the Nox didn't keep their gate records?"

"No they did," Corin explained. "But, according to the logs the city's gate was last used yesterday."

Chen looked at Corin in confusion.

"This city's abandoned and it looks like it's been abandoned for thousands of years," Chen said. "There's no way the gate was active yesterday."

"I know. And even if it was, who logged it?"

Chen took a moment to think, glancing up to make sure the halls were actually empty.

"Have the Ror'char ever found a Nox city before?" Chen asked.

"Only abandoned ones," Corin said. "After several thousand years, the cloak may or may not fail. According to the textbooks I taught, the Ror'char that Millennium held the key to finding a way to decloak the still hidden cities."

"And it did," Chen said, thinking about the decloaking device he had. "No one has ever stepped in a city that still had Nox in it. Does anyone know what happens if you do?"

"Even if someone does find an occupied Nox city they'll never know," Corin explained. "The Nox's ability to turn invisible comes from their ability to generate illusions; they create the illusion nothing's there. They can simply make the city look abandoned."

-.-

The particles of the ocean deep were all but invisible in the darkness. Only a few balloon-like jellyfish remained floating about but even they were difficult to see. Nova and Martin may have been looking for an enormous whale but the darkness was not making it easy. Looking for something, no matter how large, was next to impossible. Luckily they had the HAZARD suit's night vision but even that didn't help them in their search.

"We've been combing this floor for at least an hour," Martin said as he continued looking at the same scene that he's been staring at for the past hour and there was still not sight of the whale that ate the stargate in the darkness. The veins of energy in their helmets provided the only light.

"If we give up now the creature might get away," Nova said stopping her dragonfly into a hover.

"It's a big Ocean, Major. It might've gotten always already," Martin pointed out, stopping beside her. Nova continued scanning the darkness. She knew Martin was right but if she had to give her team something to hope for. She was their leader and they will look toward her for strength. She didn't want to admit that they were stranded on an alien planet. Still, she couldn't push Martin to search forever.

"Alight we'll head back," Nova said as she turned her dragonfly. It was only then she realized Martin wasn't listening.

"Major," he said nervously, looking down. "Below us."

Nova looked down. At first she was confused; she only saw the sandy ocean bottom. Then, she turned pale when she realized what was hidden under the sand. While the whole ground seemed to be made of the small particles there were small patches of black that were exposed to the open water. It didn't take her long to recognize the rough black surface.

"Move slowly," she said as they began to gently hover away from the slumbering form of the giant lobster creature that had attacked several times earlier. It was completely covered in sand and gravel from the bottom. Only small patches of its shell remained visible. Sensing movement above it, the creature slowly raised its head, lifting its eyes only a few inches above the sand.

"Uh…Major," Martin said as they began to get some distance between them and it. "I don't think it's asleep." He stared at the creature's head and into its glowing red eyes, which stared back at him. It wasn't sleeping. It waiting to ambush them.

"Ok, forget subtly," Nova said when she realized this. "Back to the city, double time!"

The two of them whipped their dragonflies in that direction. Realizing its prey had discovered what it was going to do, the lobster burst out of the sand. The massive cloud of dirt engulfed all three of them as the lobster lurched forward to grab its prey. Their black figures could be seen thrashing about inside the cloud for a moment before Nova and Martin shot out of the haze of sand like a bullet with the lobster right behind them.

Nova turned and aimed both her rifles at it and fired. The metal prongs streaked through the water too fast for the eye to see, lines of bubbles being the only thing to reveal their path of destruction. Normally she would be worried about the accuracy of firing two guns at once. This time, it was hard to miss her target. The metal prongs bounced off the creature's hard shell but some of them his soft tissue and dug in. Nova could see the prongs embedded in its face like arrows. It roared in anger as Martin glanced behind him, aiming his ion rifle. He fired at the creature. The bolt of ionized particles instantly evaporated the water around it, encasing it in a thick skin of bubbles as it streaked through the water and hit the monster. The shock wave from the explosion was amplified by the water and nearly knocked both Nova and Martin off their rides.

"Crevice up ahead!" Nova yelled through the radio. They didn't stand a chance fighting that thing. Their only hope was to use its size against it. They flew down into the crevice with the lobster right behind them. They felt the crash as the creature lodged itself into the crevice, rocks being knocked off and sinking toward the bottom. But, this time it wasn't just going to thrash. It began using its claws to shove away the rock and dirt, digging to catch them.

"We can't go too deep," Martin reminded Nova as they descended. He didn't know how fast the water pressure was rising but he didn't want to risk getting crushed.

"We don't have to," Nova said. "We just need to go around it."

"Might be harder than it seems!" Martin yelled, looking up. Nova glanced up too and saw that the lobster, though unable to fit into the crevice, was following them from above, waiting for them to head back up.

"Heads up!" Nova suddenly yelled. Martin looked back up front again and his eyes widened in horror. In the wall of the crevice was the entrance to a massive cave and a huge worm had begun to slither out. It wasn't as big as the lobster chasing them but it was still big enough to eat them alive. Soon, the whole crevice in front of them was filled by the worm's impossibly long and sickeningly pale body.

"We're heading back up!" Nova ordered. The two of them veered up as the worm opened its beak. It wriggled after them. Nova knew they were trapped. The lobster creature was waiting at the entrance the giant worm was going to chase them. But, this was all they could do. They could only hope they manage to fly past the lobster's claw without getting caught.

The lobster was waiting for Nova and Martin at the top. As soon as they emerged from the crevice the creature launched its claw forward in a desperate attempt to grab them. The creature narrowly missed Nova and Martin, grabbing the worm instead as it emerged from the ground. The long parasite gave a single pained screech as its body was crushed in the creature's claws. The lobster looked at the worm angrily and tossed it aside. It scanned the area for Nova and Martin but they had already vanished into the darkness.

-.-

Chen and Corin were both still working at the computers when the hum of the dragonflies and the drip of water made them look up. They could tell how tired Nova and Martin were from their slouches and limps even before their helmets retracted to reveal their exhausted faces.

"I'm guessing the hunt didn't go well," Corin said.

"We didn't even find the bloody whale," Martin said. "We ran into our old friend though."

Chen and Corin stared at Martin in confusion.

"The lobster," Nova explained.

"Krenshaw," Corin corrected. "The Nox apparently called it the krenshaw; it was also a lot smaller a thousand years ago."

"Well, the…krenshaw…it was waiting for us," she continued. "It's almost as if it's been hunting us this whole time. You two find anything?"

Chen simply shook his head angrily.

"All evidence points to the Nox having a stargate in this room but we can't find any," he said in frustration.

"More than that," Corin added. "We've found evidence that they've been using their stargate as recent as yesterday."

Martin took a moment to think about what Corin just said.

"That's creepy," he commented with a grimace.

"You think that's creepy?" Chen asked. "The city's apparently chewing up a lot of energy for something that supposed to be abandoned."

"How much energy?" Nova asked.

"Comparable to New York city," Chen said. "It's weird that an empty city is going through so much power and I can't find out what it's being used for."

"Wasted out into the ocean?" Martin suggested.

"Energy doesn't work like that," Chen said. "And even if energy is released without being used it usually reverts to heat. With how much energy being used, the oceans would boil if it turned into heat which, clearly, they aren't."

Everyone exchanged uncertain glances with each other.

"I know no one wants to hear this," Nova said. "But, we're going to have to consider the possibility we're stuck here." There was a moment of dead silence as they took in that fact. They were stuck on an alien planet.

"I'm not giving up just yet," Corin said, shaking his head.

"What, you hoping the stargate will just show up?" Chen asked sarcastically.

"Actually I am," Corin said. "Before the formation of the Alliance of Four Great Races, the Asgard were the first to encounter the Nox. Since they are roughly on the same technological level, the Asgard were able to detect the city's energy signatures even while it was cloaked. They were able to decloak the city and sent a small party to the planet via the public stargate."

"How does that help us?" Nova asked. She didn't believe that this history lesson was actually going to be useful but she had to listen and find out.

"According to Asgard texts the Ror'char found, all the stargates vanished," Corin continued explaining. "The Asgard scouting team sent out a distress call for a ship to pick them up. They encountered a number of challenges while they waited but the Asgard managed to find nonviolent means of solving them. Eventually, according to the texts, the stargates reappeared, letting the exploration team return home. The Nox eventually contacted them, revealing that when the Asgard managed to unveil their city they hid the stargates as a test to see how the Asgard would react."

"Great, but how does that help us?" Martin asked, not seeing a connection between the story and their condition. "Our city doesn't have any Nox left." Corin opened his mouth to speak but didn't know what to say.

"I don't know," Corin said in defeat. "But we can't just give up now."

"We're not," Nova said. "But, we still need to take inventory and prepare for the worst."

-.-

'It's always a calculated risk every time we step through the stargate.'

Nova remembered Samantha Carter saying that. No one ever realizes how true it is until they hit a problem like this. She came back from the dragonflies after counting their supplies. Her team were all gathered around the computer. Chen and Corin were both still working to find a stargate in the city while Martin sat around, not sure what to do.

"From the looks of it, we have enough food for a couple days," she said as she walked in on them. "Eventually, we're going to have to go out into the ocean and catch our own food if we can't find a way off."

"Catching fish with the ADS rifles shouldn't be that hard," Martin said.

"Sure, until we run out of ammo," Chen remarked. "The only way the ion rifle leaves any fish left to eat is on lowest yield and I don't know how long its particle clip lasts. Eventually we'll have to go fishing the old fashioned way."

"And risk being fished," Corin pointed out, thinking about all the creatures that nearly killed them on this planet. "I still think our best chance is to look for the stargate."

"Keep looking for it," Nova ordered. She was torn. It seemed blatantly obvious that there was no stargate in the city, yet she could not ignore the evidence that pointed otherwise. If she had Corin work on looking for the stargate that meant one less hand helping gather supplies if there wasn't one.

"If we're assuming we're not making it back," Chen said. He wasn't keen on the idea of being stranded but complaining wasn't going to solve anything. At the very least, resources and shelter were readily available. "We should empty the crates of coral samples. We could use those crates for food storage."

"Do it," Nova said. Chen nodded and went over to the dragonflies. "Martin and I will explore the rest of the city. We'll see if there's anything we can salvage."

"Uhh, guys," Chen suddenly called out, coming back with a crate in his hands. "I don't think this is coral." Corin, Nova, and Martin all peeked into the crate. The crate was filled with water but inside were rocks, bits of coral, murky seaweed, and, snuggled between the leaves and looking like a rock, was an egg.

Corin felt his eyes widen in surprise when he saw this.

"Oops," he said nervously, remembering he was the one who collected all the coral samples.

"Whoever laid this egg is going to be bloody pissed," Martin remarked, not noticing a single figure peeking from behind the corner behind them, or the large black figure looming outside the glass dome.

Suddenly, Nova whipped around, her guns raised, just barely in time to see the figure peeking around the corner vanished.

"Major?" Martin asked when he saw Nova whip around.

"Nothing," she said, lowering her weapons. "I just thought I saw something."

"Can we stop with this ghost sighting thing?" Chen asked in annoyance, his arms sagging from holding the crate. "We have more important things to worry about other than apparitions. For one: who does this egg belong to?"

It was only then they noticed the looming shadow from outside the dome.

"I have an idea 'bout that," Martin said as they turned around and saw, staring at them with is glowing blood red eyes, its enormous black body filling up the glass as it raised its pincers ready to crush its prey in its grasp, the krenshaw.


	3. Chapter 3

The black figure of the krenshaw filled the glass as it stared at the team. It saw the egg in the open case.

"So, any ideas?" Martin asked when he saw the clearly angry krensaw. Since he and Nova and escaped its grasp it had no idea where they were so it just went back to the Nox city to find them. The creature pulled its pincer back, ready to smash the glass. Martin knew that if the glass broke the entire chamber would flood in seconds. He got ready to extend his helmet.

Chen immediately reacted, grabbing the egg out of the water and holding it high above his head. Seeing its egg lifted, the creature immediately froze.

"Chen, what are you doing?!" Nova snapped when she saw him lift the egg as if he was ready to smash it.

"Sending a message," Chen said calmly, the egg still lifted high above his head. "It won't attack because it knows that it risks smashing its egg," Chen explained. He eyed the creature carefully; it was clear that he would smash the egg without a second though if he had to.

"Not sure if this is the right way to do things," Corin said. He knew the krenshaw was already unhappy with them having its egg. He wasn't sure that threatening it would help the situation.

"What do you think we should do then?" Chen asked angrily, still staring at the creature.

"We can start by lowering the egg," Corin suggested. Chen looked at Nova for orders. He didn't think that lowering the egg was a good idea. Nova looked at Chen, then at Corin, then at the creature waiting outside the window.

"Slowly," she said. She agreed with Corin that threatening to smash the egg was a bad idea but understood why Chen thought lowering the egg wouldn't help either.

Chen began to slowly bring the egg down, his eyes locked on the krenshaw.

Seeing its egg no longer at a dangerous height, the krenshaw gave a roar and drew its claws back, ready to strike the city.

Chen immediately raised the egg back up into the air and the creature froze once again.

"Any ideas?" Chen asked when he realized he wasn't going to be able to just put the egg down.

"We're going to need to give the egg back," Corin said.

"Any _good_ ideas?" Chen asked. Corin stared at Chen in surprise when it was clear he didn't like the idea of returning the egg.

"Steve, that thing's going to follow us until it get its egg back," Corin said. "We can't look for the stargate and fight that thing at the same time. If we give back its egg, it'll go."

Chen just gave Corin a crooked look.

"Ok, let's say someone took your kid," Chen said. "You get really, really pissed and you hunt the guy down. The guy gets scared and gives your kid back. Are you going to just walk away? Or would you still proceed to beat the living crap out of him?"

"We didn't take the kid on purpose," Corin argued.

"You want to do the explaining?" Chen asked, gesturing toward the massive krenshaw. Everyone exchanged glances as they thought about what Chen said.

"So what do we do now?" Martin asked, turning to Nova for orders.

"Terra, we have to give it back," Corin said. He knew he would never be able to convince Chen but he had to convince Nova. "We went to an alien planet and screwed up. We have a responsibility to fix this."

"Corin, my responsibility's to this team, not alien animals," Nova said. "Chen's right. Sending anyone out to deliver the egg might be suicide."

"If we don't that thing will follow us until it gets its child back," Corin said. "It might still try to kill us afterwards but it for sure will if we don't."

"I'm sorry, Corin," Nova said. "But, I'm not going to risk the lives of my team unless I know that this will work." Nova looked at the creature. She understood how it must've felt but she had her own 'children' to worry about.

"Guess we continue this staring contest," Chen remarked, his arms beginning to shake from holding up the egg so long.

Nova glanced at the creature one last time. She couldn't just stand there and do nothing and the decision to not return the egg will result in just that.

"Corin, you know if things go wrong we won't be able to back you up," she said.

"I know," Corin said. "But, we have to try." Chen looked at Corin with obvious uncertainty. Keeping the egg high in the air, Chen carefully handed it to Corin.

"You sure about this?" Chen asked. The last thing he wanted was to see Corin eaten before his eyes.

"No," Corin groaned, taking the egg. The krenshaw watched them carefully, its eyes locked on the egg. He carefully made his way to the dragonflies at the back of the chamber, egg still in the air. The krenshaw knew that those shiny grey things were what they tiny fleshy creatures used to go into the water.

Corin gently put the egg atop a dragonfly's cargo compartment. There was a click as a folded packet of metal extended from the collar of his HAZARD suit. The metal packet then unfolded around his head, forming his helmet, the veins of energy lighting up as the faceplate finished.

"No matter how this ends up," Corin said. "This is the right thing to do."

"And if things go bad?" Martin asked, knowing that it probably would. Corin didn't answer for a moment. He wasn't keen on dying but he knew he had to do this.

"It's still the right thing to do," Corin finally said. He turned on the dragonfly and the vehicle lifted up, hovering a few feet off the ground. He guided his ride into the hall where the transporter was before throwing his leg across the seat and mounting it.

"We'll keep the porch light on," Nova said. Corin gave a single nod as the transporter activated, the beam of light engulfing Corin before vanishing, submerging the room back into darkness.

Corin emerged in the tunnel underneath the city, the water around him nearly pitch black without the light of the transporter. He immediately felt the pressure of the water against his suit, restricting his movements. The wings of the dragonfly extended as it entered flight mode. He lowered himself out from under the city, watching as the massive krenshaw came into view. The creature glared at Corin and its egg.

"Alright big fellow," Corin said nervously, maneuvering in front of the creature, who simply stared at Corin. He could feel the adrenaline coursing through his veins. It would take only one second for the krenshaw to eat him alive. Still, Corin knew he had to keep his nerves and trust that this would work. He slowly reached for the egg and wrapped his fingers around it. Corin could feel the creature watching his every move as he cradled the egg in his arms and held it out.

The creature looked at the egg, then back at Corin. It extended its pincers that protruded from its neck. Corin looked at the pincers, knowing that it could crush his head like a grape. But, it simply gently picked up the egg, cradling it in its arms.

"Ok," Corin said. "This is where you let us go."

There was a snort as the creature looked up at Corin, venom returning to its eyes.

"Or not," Corin whimpered. The krenshaw gave a furious roar and reeled back, its claws opening for the kill. Chen was right. It didn't just want its egg back. It wanted revenge for it being stolen.

Corin veered around on his dragonfly and tried to speed off with the krenshaw giving the chase.

"Crap," Nova muttered, locking both her rifles when she saw what was happening.

"Where're you bloody going?" Martin asked as his commanding officer activated and mounted a dragonfly.

"Going to help!" Nova yelled as she drove into the Nox transport beam. Her helmet unfolded over her head just as the beam activated and she vanished in it.

-.-

Corin dove for the ocean floor, the krenshaw close behind. He veered up at the last moment, the creature trying to do the same but its massive size drove it into the ground, a mass of dirt being thrown up into a cloud. But it didn't stop the krenshaw this time. It was out for blood. The creature roared as it bolted out of the cloud. Corin yelled in panic, veering left and right as it slammed its claws into the dirt.

Suddenly, metal prongs began raining from above. The beast looked up and saw Nova firing both her guns at it, the rods burying themselves into the sand while the others bounced off its shell.

"C'mon," she whispered. "C'mon bud." The krenshaw gave another roar and headed straight up. Nova turned and flew off. She knew she didn't what it took to kill the krenshaw; all she wanted was to distract it.

"Corin, it has its egg, head back!" Nova ordered.

"What about you?!" Corin yelled when he saw the creature redirect its attention to Nova.

"I'll keep it busy!" she yelled, turning around and speeding off. "GO!"

-.-

"I'm going out there to help," Martin said, pulling out his ion rifle.

"You crazy?!" Chen snapped as they quickly went to the dragonflies.

"I'm not going to sit back and watch them get killed," Martin argued, jumping on top of his vehicle. Chen quickly mounted his as well.

"What are you going to do?" Martin asked when it became clear Chen was going to follow. "You gave the Major your gun!"

"Like you said, I'm not going to sit back and watch them get killed," Chen snapped. "And, I'd like to see you try and stop me."

-.-

Nova yelled in shock as the dragonfly seemed to just vanish from under her, her guns flying out of her hands in two different directions. She flailed for a few moments as her momentum carried her through the water. The krenshaw tossed aside the vehicle it had managed to grab. It didn't want the shiny thing its prey was riding, it wanted the prey itself.

Before the krenshaw could move again, a streak of blue energy encased in bubbles shot through the water and hit its shell, the explosion turning into a shockwave that warped through the water.

Corin saw the bolt and looked at Martin and Chen in disbelief.

"We just gave back the egg!" Corin protested. "Can we not try to kill it?!"

"I'm not trying to kill the prawn," Martin snapped as he maneuvered his dragonfly beside Corin's. "I'm trying to tell it to go away!"

"Well it looks like you failed!" Chen yelled in panic as the krenshaw made a beeline toward them.

Nova finally came to a stop. The suit was made to put it in perfect equilibrium with the pressure around it so she neither floated toward the surface nor sank to the bottom.

She looked up just in time to see the krenshaw darting for her teammates.

"Martin, Chen!" she yelled in panic. There was no time for any of them to react as the creature opened its jaws, revealing the hundreds of hands lining its mouth, made to rip food apart into tiny pieces for eating.

Corin was just out of the way enough that he bounced off the side of the krenshaw's body but Martin and Chen were right in front of its mouth. The two of them were just about to disappear into the creature's maw when they suddenly…vanished.

Nova blinked several times in disbelief. She just watched her teammates disappear before her eyes. The krenshaw was just as confused. It thrashed about in the water, trying to find where they could've fled to but they were nowhere to be seen.

The krenshaw turned to face Corin, who it had felt bouncing across its shell a few moments ago. But, he too had vanished.

The creature looked around but only Nova remained. It reared back and charged full speed. Without her dragonfly, Nova knew there was no way for her to escape. The krenshaw opened its mouth, ready for its meal while Nova readied herself for what was about to come. The animal's black figure completely filled up her field of vision. As darkness covered her, the blackness was suddenly lit up with a white light that soon filled her field of vision and it spread until all she could see was white.

She blinked a couple times as the nothingness began to fade away. She looked around, realizing that the force of the water against her suit had vanished. In fact, she wasn't even in the water anymore. She looked around and realized that she was back in the dome of the Nox city, but the whole scenery had changed. It wasn't dimly lit and empty chamber anymore. The whole dome was lit up.

Nova saw Corin, Martin, and Chen all sprawled out on the ground beside her, looking around in confusion.

"What just happened?" Corin wondered, looking around the now brightly lit room. Martin and Chen were both looking at themselves, surprised they weren't dead. They were one second from being eaten; they were expecting to get killed.

"I don't know," Nova said, getting up to her feet. With the lights on, the area looked like a majestic palace.

"Major," Martin said, gesturing toward something in front of them. Nova looked up and she felt her jaw drop. They weren't alone. All around them were at least a dozen people coming out from around the corner while others seem to just materialize from the air.

"Nox," Corin breathed in awe as a small crowd formed around them. These weren't the Nox Nova had read about in SG-1's mission report. They weren't from the forest; they didn't have the tangled mass of grass-like hair nor the furry mats they used for clothes. Instead, their brown hair was padded down as if it was soaked with water, though there wasn't a single drop in it. Their skin was also slightly darker than with a tint of green that matched the color of their clothes, which looked like was made of seaweed.

Corin wished he had something to record this moment. He spent years teaching about the mythical Nox, fairies that filled every child's dreams. People would tell stories to their children that the Nox would sneak candy under their beds if they were good. Of course the adults knew this was untrue but the Nox were creatures of legend that many had only dreamed of meeting. Now, he was seeing a crowd right in front of him.

Chen didn't know how to react. He felt almost guilty for carrying the weapon in his hands, knowing that Nox detested violence. Everyone involved in the stargate program knew that SG-1 had been the only ones to encounter the Nox on their own turf. Now, they were seeing the Nox in their own city.

Martin wanted to get on his knees and bow. He didn't view the Nox as gods. Still, he felt these beings deserved his respect not only from their power but from their philosophy. While he disagreed with much of it, he respected their commitment and their ability to enforce it. He couldn't bow down but he could lower his head in respect.

Nova nervously stepped forward as two Nox stepped forth from the crowd. He didn't know who they were but, from the way they walked together, she guessed they were husband and wife, possibly the governors of the city.

"Did you save us?" Nova asked. She didn't know if they knew English. The mission report she read said they could quickly learn a language but she didn't know if they were trying all this time.

"We did," the husband said gently.

"You know, for a people who don't like killing, there's certainly a lot of death around your city," Martin remarked, thinking of all the predatory creatures they ran into.

"Not by choice," husband replied. Martin looked at him in confusion.

"All things have a right to live," the wife said. "If they do not feed on another, they will die; they do not have a choice. We, on the other hand, have choice. We can choose to live our entire life without taking the life of another."

"Which is why we speak now," the husband added.

"I don't understand," Nova said. The two Nox exchanged glances as even more began to appear around the chamber.

"When you managed to uncloak our city, we grew…curious," the husband explained. "We hid ourselves to see what you would do."

"You created the illusion the city and village was abandoned," Chen concluded. "I'm guessing that there _is_ a stargate in your city and you hid that too."

"We needed to know what you would do," the wife said. "Where many would collapse under the pressure, you stayed strong. Where many would turn on their friends and comrades, you stayed united. Where many would resort to violence, your resolution was one of peace. And, despite a dire situation, you chose the peaceful solution despite the possible risk to your lives. You remained strong and committed to moral decisions in the face of adversity."

"What about the fish from earlier?" Martin asked, remembering that they had to kill a fish that attacked them. He thought the fact the fish didn't simply vanish in front of him was proof the place was abandoned.

"It has been revived and returned to its home. If we were to conceal the anauron, you were know that the city still held Nox. We simply brought it back to this world. We wanted to see what you would do if you thought this place truly was abandoned."

"You _were_ testing us," Corin said excitedly.

"In a sense," the husband said with a nod. "What happened to you on this planet was not our doing. However, it has given us a greater deal of insight. Any race can become technologically advanced given the right circumstances, but only a few can properly utilize that technology."

"Long ago, long before the formation of the Alliance, our people became consumed by civil war," the wife explained. "A civilization of trillions was reduced to mere hundreds as a result. During that time, one man, ravaged by what appeared to be a war without end, ventured off into the galaxy in the hopes of understanding the workings of the universe. He came back near the end of his life, wiser than ever before. He taught love and peace to all those around him. He taught understanding, compassion, humility. He said that others can follow in his footsteps, that the young are taught to be wise. He preached to not follow him but follow his teachings. He wanted to not be remembered as an individual but an idea. The war ended as all who were involved died in the destruction they wrought. On that day, the Sillerens became extinct; on that day, a new race was born, a race that was named after the man whose teachings they followed. On that day, the Nox stepped out into the galaxy. This is how we choose to remember that man: by honoring his teachings."

"The Nox have always followed these teachings," the husband said. "It has always been that way. Because of this history, we understand that advancement is not just through technology but the usage of it. The Asgard, before their united demise, told us of the people of Earth and their potential to use their technology for greatness. If these humans were as advanced as the Asgard said, we knew if would only be a matter of time before they finally ventured to the city of Millennium."

"Once capital of the Alliance of Four Great Races," the wife added.

"We're already there," Nova said. "That's how we knew there was a city here."

"We are aware. That is the only way you are able to find our city."

"When our ancestors abandoned the city, they hoped that the Alliance would one day return," the husband said. "If not the Alliance, a worthy successor to our mantle."

"A fifth race," Nova said, filling in the blanks. "It was for us; the Asgard declared us the fifth race before they destroyed themselves."

The two Nox looked at each other as if they were unsure of revealing the truth.

"Unfortunately, it is not so," the husband spoke up. "Before abandoning the Millennium, it was agreed that the fifth race would only be determined with the approval of three of the four races. The Asgard alone cannot decide the fifth race. You still need the approval of two of the other races in the Alliance before you are granted this title."

"But you can understand our curiosity," the wife added. "We wished to see what it was that made the Asgard nominate you as a candidate to be the fifth race."

"I just gotta ask," Martin spoke up. "What would've happened if we failed?"

"You would not have been in any danger. We can easily bring you back. If you proved too young then we would have simply sent you back through the stargate with no memory of our interaction."

"But we passed," Nova said. The two Nox simply smiled, acknowledging the truth behind that statement.

"That you did," the husband said warmly with a smile. "And, while you do not have our support, you have our respect. We do not give you our vote to become the fifth race, but you have taken the first steps to that end."

"What about the third vote?" Nova asked. "How can we get a third vote if we don't meet any of the other members?"

"They will meet you," the husband explained. "Though you do not see them now, they, like us, are always watching. Once you receive the three votes and become our successor, the fifth race, you will unlock all the secrets of the Millennium."

"And if you receive all four votes, you will unlock all the secrets of the Alliance of Four Great Races," the wife said.

She then raised her hand and gracefully waved it through the air. The team felt a gentle warmth drift in from behind them. They all glanced behind them and saw, to their surprise, the active stargate; the glittering wall of water emitted a calming glow that filled the chamber. In the background, outside the dome, they saw a massive black figure drifting through the water. The gaped in awe as the krenshaw gently swam past, its egg clutched in its pincers. Now that it wasn't trying to kill them, they could admire the now graceful beast.

"You may now return home," the wife said with a smile. "You have a journey of a thousand miles to travel. Through your actions in your own galaxy and the Pegasus, you have taken the first few steps in that journey. Now travel the rest."

Corin immediately looked back. He had to ask; he didn't want to miss this opportunity.

"Even if we can't study your technology, what about your culture, your people?" he asked.

"We must not interfere," the wife said slowly. "Perhaps…in time. Remember, we will be watching."

Nova looked back at the Nox, the anxiety she felt before she arrived back in the city replaced with joy.

"Wolf pack," she said, dialing her GDO. "Roll out."

The four of them walked up to the glowing event horizon and looked back. Without another word, they stepped through the stargate. They weren't the fifth race yet, but they were on the right path.


End file.
